What is This Christmas?
by hopefuldreamer1991
Summary: Roxas wakes up one morning to find that everyone has been given the day off in observance of the Christmas Holidays. The only problem? Roxas doesn't know what this "Christmas" is, or what it means. While Axel gets ready to fulfill his promise of giving him the best first Christmas ever, Roxas ends up doing some self discovery of his own. Oneshot.


**Hey guys, this is my first Christmas fanfic, so I hope you enjoy it :) I always wondered if Christmas could have been one of the days not covered in 358/2 Days, so I thought I would write about this. Merry Christmas to all! Reviews are definitely always welcome. **

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts :)**

* * *

He rubbed his eyes as he woke up that morning, groaning as he did so. He wished he could sleep a few more hours as he was still in pain from the events that occurred the previous day, but he knew that was impossible. After all, Roxas knew that today's mission would not complete itself. He could not afford to let down the Organization, nor Kingdom Hearts for that matter, whatever that was. He still didn't fully comprehend it, but he knew he was helping to create it. He jumped out of bed and walked into the Gray Room, ready to receive today's assignment.

"Huh, where is everybody?" Roxas said as he noticed the Gray Room was empty, which was odd considering the other Organization members were usually here during this time of the morning to receive the missions they were assigned to do. Roxas then noticed a sign had been placed on the glass window that stretched across the wall on the other side of the room, so he walked over to get a closer look and read it.

"**No missions will be assigned over the Christmas holidays. Be ready to work in two days. –Saix.**"

"What is…" said Roxas. They had been given a day off a few months earlier, so this was nothing new, but something else puzzled Roxas as he read the note a second time.

"What is..."

"He HEY ROXAS," a voice behind him said. Roxas turned around, realizing that his tall, spikey haired, red headed best friend had appeared behind him.

"Oh Axel, it's you. I guess we don't have a mission today, huh?"

"Of course not," Axel said, "It's Christmas Eve!"

"What is…this Christmas?" Roxas asked, "Or who is it? Must be important if Xemnas didn't want me using the keyblade today."

"WHA?" Axel started, shocked that his best friend appeared to be completely oblivious about Christmas. He then remembered that Roxas had never even existed during any Christmas holiday. He had already learned so much since he had joined the Organization several months earlier, but how could he know about Christmas if he had never experienced one?

"Christmas is the greatest holiday ever, got it memorized?" Axel stated has he tapped the side of his head. "It's a time for cheerfulness, a time for giving, and a time where you'll see so much decorating and so much Christmas music that it will make you want to puke."

"So wait, you want to get sick on Christmas?!"

Axel sighed. "Tell you what, I'm going to make sure that this is the best Christmas ever, not just for you, but for everyone else as well."

"Xion…?"

"Well, DUH! What part of everyone else do you not comprehend?" Axel chuckled softly under his breath. For a kid that wasn't supposed to have a heart, Roxas always seemed to look out for everyone else, particularly Xion.

"I'll spend that day getting ready," Axel continued. "It will be a day you won't forget, you can bet on it!"

"Can't I come help you?" Roxas asked innocently.

"Why ruin the surprise?" Axel said as he summoned a corridor of darkness. I'll meet you later at our usual place at the usual time. After that, you'll see what Christmas is all about." Axel began to disappear in the corridor. "Later," he waved.

"Right…" Roxas sighed. For the next hour, he hung around the castle, but quickly became bored as nobody else was up and about yet._ Perhaps they decided to sleep in given we have the day off_, thought Roxas. His boredom eventually got the best of him, so he summoned a corridor, hoping getting out of the castle would make the day go by faster.

* * *

"Whoa…" Roxas said as he stepped out of his corridor. Many people were crowding the sidewalks as they walked, which was unusual considering Twilight Town was usually such a calm and serene place. He noticed that the town also had a different look to it as well. Green things hung off of every streetlight, and colorful lights seemed to hang on every other building.

"CAREFUL!" Roxas heard another voice shout. He looked over his shoulder as he noticed three familiar kids walking down the street, each helping to carry a pine tree as they walked. He noticed that these were the same kids that he and Axel ran into during one of their previous missions.

"Well if you didn't drag your feet Pence, I wouldn't be struggling to carry my side!" The blonde kid screamed back at his husky friend that had black hair and wore a sweatband.

"Hayner, Pence," a brunette girl that wore pigtails said to her friends, "At this rate, our Christmas tree won't be up until Easter!"

"Christmas…" Roxas whispered to himself.

"Chillax Olette," Hayner said, "Tis the season."

_Christmas tree won't be up_, Roxas thought. _What are they going to do with that tree, toss it in the air? _He knew he'd never find out what that meant by just standing there, so Roxas decided to quietly follow them and check out what they were planning on doing with the tree. At least he'd be able to tell Axel he learned about Christmas.

Roxas followed the trio until they reached their hideout in an alley about a couple blocks down the street. He looked behind the curtain, carefully staying quiet so he wouldn't be noticed. What Roxas saw made no sense to him. He first them string colorful lights around the tree, the same types of lights that were on many of the buildings. They hung colorful objects on the braches following this, and then they threw a lot of shiny material all over the tree. The final thing they did was what they placed a star on top of the tree, which made no sense to Roxas because stars could only be found in the sky at nighttime, or so he thought. _I don't think stars grow on _trees, he pondered to himself. When they stopped decorating, they each grabbed a drinking glass with an unknown liquid inside.

"Guys," began Olette, "this really has to be the greatest Christmas tree we've ever decorated.

"This also has to be the best eggnog you've ever made," said Pence.

"To the best Christmas ever!" said Hayner as he raised his glass. "And here's hoping we get everything we asked for!"

"Hayner…" said Pence and Olette simultaneously.

Roxas decided by this point that he saw enough. As he walked down the streets once more, he noticed that most everyone was carrying boxes wrapped in paper and ribbons.

_I wonder what all this means_, thought Roxas. He decided not to ponder about it too much at the moment as it was almost time to meet Axel on top of the clock tower. He could answer all of his questions then. As he walked over to the ice-cream stand to purchase the sea-salt ice-cream that he ate every day, he noticed that there was yet another sign posted on it.

"**CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAYS! MERRY CHRISTMAS!**"

Roxas sighed as he turned around and headed for the clock tower

* * *

_I guess this Christmas thing means that a lot of things happen that…don't normally happen_, Roxas thought as he took his normal seat on top of the clock tower. _Trees, lights, eggnog, getting everything you asked for. Is that all these people are fussing about?_

"Hello Roxas," said a soft voice that came from behind Roxas.

"Oh, hello Xion."

"So, do you know what's going on with this Christmas thing?" she asked as she took her seat next to Roxas. "I saw that there was no ice-cream today, but other than that…"

"Not really," answered Roxas. "I mean I saw people shopping for boxes that were wrapped up and tied with ribbon. I saw lights hanging on buildings. I saw people decorating _trees_, and I saw people drinking eggnog, whatever that is. But I still don't know what Christmas _is_ exactly."

"Hmm…" began Xion, "I wonder…"

"HO! HO! HO! YOU GUYS!" said a voice behind them.

"Hi Axel," said Xion.

"Where have you been today?" asked Roxas.

"Everywhere," answered Axel, "But everything is ready. Are you ready for the BEST first Christmas ever?"

"Axel," asked Roxas, "I walked around town today and saw a bunch of stuff that you don't usually see when you come here. So is Christmas really about getting everything you ever wanted or asked for?"

"What?!" Axel exclaimed as he took a seat next to his friends. "No, no, no, definitely not. Christmas does usually involve people exchanging gifts, but that is all in the spirit of giving. Christmas is about spending time with those you care about the most, making memories together, taking part in memorable traditions performed year after year. It's the feeling that matters, and that's what Christmas is. Got it memorized?!"

"But Axel," Xion said, "If we're Nobodies that can't feel anything, why are we recognizing this Christmas? What does it matter?"

"Well you two may not have any memories of your past lives, but the rest of us do, so we remember what Christmas is like. We remember that feeling, and we remember the joy that the day brings."

Roxas wasn't sure he completely understood, but he nodded at what Axel had to say. He figured he'd follow along with whatever Axel did. Perhaps he would get it later.

"With that, let's RTC," said Axel. Once he stood up, he opened a corridor and motioned for the younger Organization members to enter. Doing as he said, Roxas and Xion stood up and followed his direction.

* * *

"WHOA!" Roxas exclaimed when they entered the Gray Room. He noticed a large decorated Christmas tree by the window, complete with wrapped presents underneath. Thirteen stockings had also been nailed to the adjacent wall.

"It's so beautiful," said Xion.

Roxas looked around the room in awe as he noticed an unfamiliar feeling growing inside of him. _Perhaps this was what Axel was talking about_, he thought, though he didn't know how or why he felt this way since he knew he did not have a heart, nor had he ever experienced a Christmas before.

"Merry Christmas," said Axel as he handed Roxas a glass of eggnog.

"Thanks," said Roxas, "You too!" The tree friends sat down, not saying much, but taking pleasure in each other's company.

"Hey Axel?" asked Roxas?

"Yeah?" Axel answered back.

"What's Easter?"


End file.
